pipxu installs Python applications, i.e. Python packages
which have one or more executable programs, into independent isolated
virtual environments on your system. Each package and it's dependencies
are thus insulated from all other applications, and from the system
Python. pipxu creates links to application executables in a
common directory, which you have in your PATH. Packages are
typically sourced from PyPI, the Python Package Index.
pipxu is a re-implementation of most of the functionality of
the popular pipx tool but is much faster because it uses
uv to create and install application virtual environments
instead of venv and pip as used by pipx.
The pipxu code has been developed completely independently of
pipx and is not a fork. For compatibility and ease of
migration, the provided commands have the same names as pipx.
Most commands are implemented, at least for common use cases, although
some command functionality, options, and output are slightly different.
This utility has been developed and tested on Linux but will likely also work on macOS. It has been briefly tested and seems to run ok on Windows. The latest documentation and code is available at https://github.com/bulletmark/pipxu.
Type pipxu or pipxu -h to view the usage summary:
usage: pipxu [-h] [--uv uv_path] [-m] [--home HOME] [--bin-dir BIN_DIR]
[--man-dir MAN_DIR] [--default-python DEFAULT_PYTHON] [-V]
{debug,inject,install,list,reinstall,runpip,uninject,uninstall,remove,upgrade,update,venv,version}
...
Install Python applications into isolated virtual environments and create
links to the executables in a bin directory for your PATH. Like pipx but uses
uv instead of venv + pip.
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--uv uv_path path to uv executable, default="uv"
-m, --no-man-pages do not install package man pages
--home HOME specify PIPXU_HOME
--bin-dir BIN_DIR specify PIPXU_BIN_DIR
--man-dir MAN_DIR specify PIPXU_MAN_DIR
--default-python DEFAULT_PYTHON
path to default python executable, default="python3"
-V, --version just print pipxu version and exit
Commands:
{debug,inject,install,list,reinstall,runpip,uninject,uninstall,remove,upgrade,update,venv,version}
debug Run an installed application using a debugger.
inject Install extra packages into an application.
install Install one or more Python applications using isolated
virtual environments.
list List applications installed by this tool.
reinstall Reinstall one, or more, or all applications.
runpip Run pip with given arguments on virtual environment
for the given application.
uninject Uninstall extra packages from an application.
uninstall (remove) Uninstall one, or more, or all applications.
upgrade (update) Upgrade one, or more, or all applications.
venv List application virtual environment paths.
version List installed application versions.
Some commands offer aliases as shown in brackets above. Note you can set
default starting global options in $HOME/.config/pipxu-flags.conf.
Type pipxu <command> -h to see specific help/usage for any
individual command:
usage: pipxu debug [-h] [-e EXECUTABLE] [-d DEBUGGER] package [args ...]
Run an installed application using a debugger. Tries to work out your
preferred debugger from the standard PYTHONBREAKPOINT environment variable. If
not set it defaults to pdb. Or you can set it explicitly with the
-d/--debugger option.
positional arguments:
package installed application name
args options and arguments to pass to application, should
start with "--"
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-e EXECUTABLE, --executable EXECUTABLE
executable to run, default is same as "package" name
-d DEBUGGER, --debugger DEBUGGER
explicit debugger package to use
usage: pipxu inject [-h] [-v] package extras [extras ...]
Install extra packages into an application. Note the same --index-url is used
as/if specified in the original install.
positional arguments:
package installed application name
extras extra package name[s] to inject/install
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-v, --verbose give more output
usage: pipxu install [-h] [-p PYTHON] [-f] [-e] [-d]
[--system-site-packages] [-i INDEX_URL] [-v]
package [package ...]
Install one or more Python applications using isolated virtual environments.
positional arguments:
package application[s] to install
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-p PYTHON, --python PYTHON
specify explicit python executable path
-f, --force recreate any already installed venv
-e, --editable install application[s] in editable mode
-d, --include-deps include executables from dependencies
--system-site-packages
allow venv access to system packages
-i INDEX_URL, --index-url INDEX_URL
base URL of Python Package Index
-v, --verbose give more output
usage: pipxu list [-h] [--json] [-v] [package ...]
List applications installed by this tool.
positional arguments:
package list the given application[s] only
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--json output json instead
-v, --venv also show the virtual environment dir/number
usage: pipxu reinstall [-h] [-p PYTHON | --reset-python]
[--system-site-packages | --no-system-site-packages]
[-v] [--all] [--skip]
[package ...]
Reinstall one, or more, or all applications.
positional arguments:
package application[s] to reinstall (or to skip for --all
--skip)
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-p PYTHON, --python PYTHON
specify explicit python executable path
--reset-python reset any explicit python path to default python
--system-site-packages
allow venv access to system packages, overrides the
per-application setting
--no-system-site-packages
remove venv access to system packages, overrides the
per-application setting
-v, --verbose give more output
--all reinstall ALL applications
--skip skip the specified applications when reinstalling all
(only can be specified with --all)
usage: pipxu runpip [-h] package [args ...]
Run pip with given arguments on virtual environment for the given application.
positional arguments:
package installed application name
args arguments to pass to uv pip, should start with "--".
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
usage: pipxu uninject [-h] [-v] package extras [extras ...]
Uninstall extra packages from an application.
positional arguments:
package installed application name
extras extra package name[s] to uninstall
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-v, --verbose give more output
usage: pipxu uninstall [-h] [-v] [--all] [--skip] [package ...]
Uninstall one, or more, or all applications.
positional arguments:
package application[s] to uninstall (or to skip for --all --skip)
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-v, --verbose give more output
--all uninstall ALL applications
--skip skip the specified applications when uninstalling all (only
can be specified with --all)
aliases: remove
usage: pipxu upgrade [-h] [-v] [--all] [--skip] [package ...]
Upgrade one, or more, or all applications.
positional arguments:
package application[s] to upgrade (or to skip for --all --skip)
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-v, --verbose give more output
--all upgrade ALL applications
--skip skip the specified applications when upgrading all (only can
be specified with --all)
aliases: update
usage: pipxu venv [-h] [-p] [-s] [package ...]
List application virtual environment paths.
positional arguments:
package list the path for the given application[s] rather than all
applications.
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-p, --path-full don't abbreviate the path
-s, --sort-venv sort by venv path rather than package name
usage: pipxu version [-h] [package]
List installed application versions.
positional arguments:
package report specific application and dependent package versions
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
Python 3.8 or later is required. Arch Linux users can install pipxu
from the AUR and skip this
section.
The uv program must be installed (and it's version must be
0.1.33 or later). If uv is not available via your system
packages, you can install it by following the uv installation
instructions for your
platform.
E.g. For Linux and macOS:
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | shE.g. For Windows:
powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"Note pipxu is on PyPI. With uv
installed and on your PATH, run the tiny bootstrap shell
script
which installs pipxu to a temporary directory then runs pipxu from
there to install itself normally:
$ curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bulletmark/pipxu/main/pipxu-bootstrap | shOr install pipxu using pipx if you prefer (or you are using Windows
where pipxu-bootstrap may not work):
$ pipx install pipxu
$ pipxu install pipxu
$ pipx uninstall pipxuTo upgrade:
$ pipxu upgrade pipxuTo uninstall all pipxu installed applications, and then uninstall
pipxu itself:
$ pipxu uninstall --all --skip pipxu
$ pipxu uninstall pipxuThe pipxu package also installs the aforementioned
pipxu-bootstrap
shell script on your system so you can always recover easily from a
broken pipxu installation by manually running that script. E.g. The
following may be needed after a major or incompatible Python version
upgrade where pipxu may have stopped working:
$ pipxu-bootstrap
$ pipxu reinstall --all --skip pipxuIf you are on Windows, reinstall pipxu using pipx as described
in the previous section then pipxu reinstall --all --skip pipxu.
Why would you use pipxu instead of pipx? The main
reason is to gain a massive speed improvement. pipx uses python -m venv to create and install virtual environments and pip
to install packages whereas pipxu uses uv for these
operations. uv is a new project
written in rust which has a better design
than venv + pip, caches aggressively, and is much
faster. Also, pipx installs pip into each virtual environment
using a shared overlay which it has to update periodically so you
sometimes experience pipx seeming to hang for a while while this
update occurs. pipxu just creates a minimal lean virtual environment
and uses uv for all operations so does not need to do this periodic
update.
Note that pipx offers some esoteric options and features which pipxu
does not have. pipxu caters for the common use cases. pipxu never
modifies your PATH.
pipxu adds some small but handy features not present in pipx:
-
For the commands
uninstall,reinstall, andupgrade,pipxonly allows you to specify one application whereaspipxuallows you to specify one or more applications. To do an operation on all applications,pipx, requires you use a corresponding*-allcommand, e.g. toupgradeall applications you useupgrade-all.pipxusimply offers a--alloption on each of those base commands to do the same thing, thus avoiding the need for the extra*-allcommands. Also,pipxalso does not offer--skipfor all those*-allcommands consistently, whereaspipxudoes. -
You can do
pipxucommands on an editable projects (as often used by developers) in your project directory by simply typing "." as the package name and this works for all commands. E.g.pipxu uninstall .orpipxu inject . pudb. I.e.pipxuautomatically determines the package name associated with the current directory, or any child directories. Note thatpipxaccepts "." for the install command, but not for any others. -
For Python developers,
pipxuadds adebugcommand to conveniently run an installed application using a debugger.pipxdoes not have this command. Read more about thedebugcommand here. -
If run as root or with
sudo,pipxuinstalls applications to a global location.
Type pipxu without any arguments to see usage and the current
environment. The environment is printed at the bottom of the screen
output as follows:
E.g. run as my user "mark":
Environment:
PIPXU_HOME = /home/mark/.local/share/pipxu
PIPXU_BIN_DIR = /home/mark/.local/bin
PIPXU_MAN_DIR = /home/mark/.local/share/man
PIPXU_DEFAULT_PYTHON = python3
Your PATH contains PIPXU_BIN_DIR (/home/mark/.local/bin).
Or run as root, or with sudo:
Environment:
PIPXU_HOME = /opt/pipxu
PIPXU_BIN_DIR = /usr/local/bin
PIPXU_MAN_DIR = /usr/local/share/man
PIPXU_DEFAULT_PYTHON = python3
WARNING: Your PATH does not contain PIPXU_BIN_DIR (/usr/local/bin).
You can set those environment variables, or provide them as command line
options, to override the defaults if you want. Note, as seen in the
output above, pipxu reports if PIPXU_BIN_DIR is included or not in
your PATH. To ensure you can run the applications installed by pipxu,
that directory must be in your PATH. E.g. for most users on Linux
using the default locations, ensure that ~/.local/bin is added to
your PATH environment variable.
You can add default global options to a personal configuration file
~/.config/pipxu-flags.conf. If that file exists then each line of
options will be concatenated and automatically prepended to your pipxu
command line arguments. Comments in the file (i.e. # and anything
after on a line) are ignored. Type pipxu to see all supported options.
The global options: --uv, --no-man-pages, --home, --bin-dir,
--man-dir, --default-python, are the only sensible candidates to
consider setting as defaults.
Command line shell tab
completion is
automatically enabled on pipxu commands and options using
argcomplete. You may need to
first (once-only) activate argcomplete global
completion.
Copyright (C) 2024 Mark Blakeney. This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ for more details.